You know her as The Pioneer Woman, but Ree Drummond is a lot more complex
than you probably first thought. From life on the ranch to her restaurant,
there's a lot to learn about the Pioneer Woman.
Watch even just one episode of "The Pioneer Woman" and you might just
assume that Ree Drummond was always interested in cooking and ranch life.
But that actually couldn't be further from the truth. On the contrary,
Drummond actually explained that her childhood obsession was more on the creative side of things.
In an interview with Cowboys & Indians,
Drummond explained that she never saw herself being a lifestyle guru as a kid. She said,
"I wouldn't say the lifestyle space was an obsession of mine growing up. I was
a ballet nut, so that was my interest and my discipline. Speaking of obsessed,
Mikhail Baryshnikov had my heart for the majority of my youth."
Being into ballet and dancing is kind of shocking to see from a woman who seems so
at home on a ranch. However, that's just one of many surprising things Drummond has up her sleeve.
Ree Drummond is a celebrity chef with her own cooking show on the Food Network
and several other successful business ventures under her Pioneer Woman banner. But,
she doesn't seem to take herself too seriously.
"Oh! If you don't get a little queso on your chin. You're not doing it right!"
During an interview with CBS News, Drummond said that she doesn't see herself as a fancy chef,
and she likes that. In fact, there's a reason why she doesn't make her
recipes too complicated or lavish. She explained,
"I'm not a trained chef, and so I have a level of accessibility.
I'm not going to show [viewers] anything that is beyond their skill. And also,
I use a lot of ingredients that are pretty easy to get."
As talented of a chef as Drummond is, she's still super down to earth and doesn't want to
make recipes or meals that the average home chef couldn't make themselves.
And honestly, that's one of the reasons why people love her so much.
Drummond has a lot going on in her life. In addition to her successful career with the
Food Network, she is also a wife and mother to four children. So to say she has a lot going
on in her life would be an understatement. Still, there's one hobby that the entire
Drummond family can agree on and have fun with, and it might not be what you think.
Speaking to Parade, the Drummond family revealed they were all into fantasy football.
All four kids, Ree, and her husband Ladd love to talk about fantasy football and
take part in it. Drummond told the publication,
"If it weren't for fantasy football, I don't know what we'd talk about."
Yes, Drummond grew up being obsessed with ballet, became a famous TV chef,
and now loves to get down and dirty with some fantasy football. Oh, how things change.
On basically every episode of "The Pioneer Woman," Drummond talks about her husband, and she's even
usually preparing dinner or some kind of meal for her hard-working cowboy. But you still might not
know that the pair have a pretty epic love story, and one that sounds almost like a romance novel.
During an interview with CBS News, Drummond explained that
it was almost love at first sight when she met her husband for the first time.
"It truly was for me close to a lightning bolt."
"Truly he just was different than anyone that I had ever been around with before."
As if that wasn't sweet enough, her husband also insinuated that she was the one to initiate the
physical side of their relationship with a kiss. Ugh, honestly, that truly sounds like a fairytale.
You don't really think of chefs as being picky eaters, especially when there are
so many different recipes they have to develop and create. But there's actually
one major food aversion that Drummond in particular has, and it might surprise you.
In an interview with Food Network, when Drummond was asked what one food she couldn't stand,
she didn't have to think too hard. She responded,
"Anything remotely related to bananas. Banana splits, banana cream pie,
banana bread […] I want nothing to do with them."
It's hard to imagine Drummond isn't a fan of bananas, as they are a staple in a solid
Southern dessert — banana pudding. Honestly, it's pretty shocking that a celebrity chef would be
so disgusted by a regular fruit, but apparently, Drummond's taste profile isn't what you'd expect.
If you've ever cooked a large meal for your family or friends, then you know
that cranking up the stereo while cooking can make the whole ordeal a lot more fun.
So it might shock you to learn that the Pioneer Woman doesn't
listen to music while she's whipping up something delicious in the kitchen.
In an interview with Food Network,
Drummond revealed that she likes to watch movies instead, such as 'The Godfather'.
Yeah, that just goes to show how talented Drummond is in the kitchen. The fact that she
can cook up a delicious, homemade meal while also watching a movie at the same time is impressive.
Obviously, Ree Drummond is known for her show on Food Network. But Drummond doesn't
just cook for her husband and children and friends and family. On the contrary,
she actually opened and owns her own restaurant in the small town of Pawhuska, Oklahoma.
Dubbed The Mercantile, this business is actually more than just a restaurant. It's a cute store,
bakery, and restaurant all in one. For Drummond and her husband, though,
opening the Mercantile was a bit of a gamble. Her husband said in an interview with CBS News,
"I told Ree two weeks before we opened, 'We might have lost our mind;
I don't know if anybody's coming to Pawhuska.'"
But The Mercantile has been a huge success,
and people travel from all over to experience Drummond's cooking.
Any fan of "The Pioneer Woman" knows that Ree Drummond and her family
are all about the country lifestyle. Ree has made it perfectly clear that
there's nowhere else she would rather live. No matter how famous she gets,
it seems as though Drummond is perfectly happy to live out on the range in Oklahoma.
Speaking to Parade, Drummond explained that she
really appreciates her life in the country. She said,
"There are no skyscrapers; there's no traffic. That isn't all life is,
hustle-bustle. For some people, it would drive them crazy,
having the silence and the clear view. But for me, it's what my soul needed."
While Drummond acknowledged that life in the country wasn't for everyone,
she truly felt at home among the fields, cattle, and of course, her cowboy husband.
From her accent to her recipes, it seems like Drummond has always
been a country girl. But that's not 100% entirely true. In fact,
Drummond never considered herself a country girl until she married her cowboy husband.
Specifically, in an interview with Design and Living magazine,
Drummond explained that she didn't really become a country girl until later in life.
When asked if she grew up a city girl or country girl she said,
"Yes, city girl, even when I lived in my town in Oklahoma I would have called myself a city
girl. That's where the nickname, 'Pioneer Woman,' came from because when I told my
friends that I was marrying a cowboy and moving to the country, they busted a gut laughing."
The fact that Drummond's own friends couldn't imagine her
living in the country just goes to show how much she's changed over the years.
Still, if you ask us, she seems like a natural on the ranch.
In addition to being a wife, mother, professional chef, cookbook author,
and restaurant owner, Ree Drummond also has an entire ranch to take care of with her family.
Obviously, she doesn't do all of the ranch work, but she does pitch in when she can.
So, to say her plate is full would be an understatement.
But Drummond truly knows how to balance it all. She admitted to Design and Living magazine,
"It's hard. I do the things that I really enjoy. I get a lot done when I love doing
it. I just became okay with going to bed at night and not having everything done."
Despite all of the success that Ree Drummond has acquired during her career,
she doesn't even really think of herself as a celebrity. As she told CBS News,
she considers herself less of the famous type than, quote, "a mom who cooks for her family."
On top of that, Drummond also admitted she didn't like the fact that people
say she has an empire. Though she has plenty to be proud of,
Drummond is still so humble regarding her massive success. She told CBS News,
"I just think of the word 'empire' as being in a position where you can just sit and reflect on
everything you've done. I just don't have time to do that. I've got too much to do, today!"
Even if Drummond has built what many in the food industry might describe as an empire,
she's not about to call it that.
As if a hit television show, several cookbooks, a home goods line at Walmart,
and more weren't enough, Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond also became a children's book author.
In fact, there are more than a few children's books Drummond has authored.
First, she wrote several books based on her dog, Charlie. And then in 2017,
she started writing another series of children's books based on her life, called Little Ree.
As Drummond told Design and Living magazine,
"It's sort of autobiographical. It's about my transition into the country
told through the perspective of a little girl. It's not my story. I
didn't move to the country as a little girl, but it's a parallel to my story."
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